Ruthless Little Girls
by Samantha Adderly
Summary: Sorcerers are being found dead all over Ireland. Detectives sent to investigate have been reported missing, most likely dead. Are Skulduggery and Valkyrie better than the rest, or will they wind up dead too?


_~Disclaimer~_

_Hi, so I have decided to set this fic after Dark Days, the fourth book, because I want to write about Tanith Low but not when she's [spoiler alert] got a remnant bonded to her soul. Anyway, obviously this is just a fan-fiction and all the credit of all eight books goes to the marvellous Derek Landy. I made none of it up, but I loved the series so here we go as I attempt at writing something worth reading. _

The street lights glistened off the wet surface of the narrow back street. It had literally just stopped raining. It was also raining the day before. And the day before that. Most days last week too. Why so much rain? Oh yes. We're in Dublin, capital of Ireland, which if you have yet to notice is a place where rain is a common aspect of the weather for the majority of the year.

The sound of cars driving through the main streets was snatched up by the wind, forced to go where ever the breeze was headed. The concreted walls of the apartment buildings lined the street, making things look even more dull. There were no trees. No grass by the side walk. Not even any gravel. Just grey pavers and concreted walls which unfortunately had a few graffiti tags.

A black car drove down the street and skidded to a halt on the wet road. A man stepped out. He seemed to have blonde hair, no match for his intensely dark eyes. He wore a black overcoat but still shivered when he stepped into the cold. The man looked to be in his thirties and, as a guess, is around 6' foot tall. Sanctuary agent, by the looks of things and the way he read the air by holding up his hand signalled that he was an Elemental.

The man resisted the urge to summon a flame for heat in case a mortals eyes fell upon him and pulled out his gun, pacing down the street. After the first few steps, he stopped and tilted his head. Was that a cry? Yes. A faint cry came from across the street. The cry sounded like it was coming from a girl, no older than 12 years old. The cry suddenly became louder, than turned to a quiet sob. The man immediately put his gun away than started across the street. He walked along the pavers until he came to a young girl sitting against the concrete wall with her head in her knees. The man crouched beside her.

"Oh, dear", he said with an English accent, "what's the matter, little girl?"

"I- I'm scared" the girl said, without raising her head.

"Well, you are quite safe with me" the man said reassuringly, "my name is Drew Erwin. What is your name, dear?"

"I can't tell you my real name. Mother says it's forbidden", her words muffled by her trousers, "But I can tell you my taken name. My taken name is Zelda Ruthless."

Erwin arched his eyebrow. She has a taken name? Why would a twelve year old choose a taken name so soon and why was it _Ruthless_? Does this mean she knows about sorcerers and the Sanctuaries? Is her mother a sorcerer? Does he know her?

"What are you scared of?" Erwin decided to ask.

She began to cry again. "A- A sorcerer", she managed to say.

Roughly half of the questions stirring around Erwin's head were just answered.

"Well…", Erwin was out of words. If only words were questions. Then he would never be in this situation. "What sorcerer are you scared of?"

Ruthless didn't answer straight away, so he straightened up and stretched his back. He didn't like crouching. Never did. It reminded him of sneaking up on the enemy on the battle field. Of course, after going through years at war and loosing so many, he did not appreciate being reminded of those times so long ago. But basically, he felt that crouching was simply uncomfortable.

Ruthless stood, her dark hair falling around her face which she kept directly down. All Erwin could see was the young girl's forehead.

"Me", she said, her voice suddenly hard. She lifted her head, her eyes looking straight into Erwin's. Ruthless' eyes were not normal. No. They were black as pitch, almost as if a demon was possessing her. Then she smiled that wicked smile of hers.

Erwin started to panic as he felt the air around him tighten around his body. He looked back at Ruthless. She had her arms out stretched, hands tensed and her fingers slightly curled. Erwin tried pushing back at the air but Zelda had a bigger influence. She curled her fingers, bringing them closer to the centre of her hand, and Erwin's hand was forced back to his side in an awkward position. When she tightened the air even more, she heard bones break and Erwin's screams pierced the night.

"You want to know why I'm called _Zelda Ruthless_?" She asked grinning.

Erwin whimpered.

"Because that's what I am", she continued, "_Ruthless._"

She laughed as she brought her hands together in one swift movement. The air around Erwin tightened one last bit and it was all over. He didn't even have time to scream. As soon as Ruthless put her hands to her sides, his body fell to the ground a messy heap.

She stared down at the body that used to be Drew Erwin. She wasn't guilty. She didn't feel bad. He seemed like a nice man, he really did. But no, she didn't care that she had robbed this world of another life. He must have done some great things for the Sanctuary. Maybe. Yet she still didn't care in the slightest. She wondered if she still had even the tiniest shred of humanity left.

She looked up from the dead man she had just killed and started walking down the street. She closed her eyes for a few seconds while she walked. When she opened them, her eyes were no longer black but instead a stunning blue. She smiled a beautiful, yet cruel smile.

"Master will be pleased", she said to herself.

She looked back at the body one more time, just in time to see a see a black pile of body parts in the shadows before she turned the corner on to the main street as the first drops of rain began to fall.

_Authors Note:_

_Hi! I'm Samantha Adderly. Look, I am just doing this for a hobby. When you have free time on your hands you've got to find something to do so you don't lose your mind to the one thing everybody dreads. Boredom. Also, I have been suffering from another thing most obsessive readers hate. Getting too attached to fictional characters. Now, I like to read books that are perfect, yet depressing. Is that good for your self-esteem? No. For one thing, in these perfect yet depressing novels, it is extremely likely that your favourite character will die a tragic death and you will feel like your life is over and has no meaning anymore. So that is another reason. Taking my mind off the stupid, yet perfect, things life has to offer. So, if you enjoyed this, make sure to click that review button that I see down there and tell me what you think! It would mean the world to me just knowing people read this. If you think you have any good suggestions for the future chapters, PM me and maybe, just maybe, I will add it in. One more thing, is anyone up for being a Beta for me? I could really use the help… I don't bite! Cheers xxo_

_~Samantha Adderly_


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